


Beating Heart

by TheDarkStrategist



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-03
Updated: 2016-11-03
Packaged: 2018-08-28 18:22:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8457004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDarkStrategist/pseuds/TheDarkStrategist
Summary: Cullen had warned him. Cassandra had warned him. Deshyr Trevelyan had thought himself ready to take on the burden of becoming a templar. A rough night without his dose of lyrium proves otherwise. Luckily, Bull's there to help.





	

Deshyr tossed and turned in his bed roll, unable to get comfortable. His muscles were tense and there was a nervous energy running through his veins. It set his teeth on edge and made him want to claw at his skin. A sharp pain battered inside his skull, like someone had released a hive of bees into his brain.

He wanted to scream, the pain and irritation was so great. At the moment, he couldn't. Not unless he wanted to wake up the entire camp. Everyone else was sound asleep, curled up cozily in their bed rolls.

Deshyr sat up and pulled his pack towards him to check it for what had to be the eighth time that night. He knew he wouldn't find what he was looking for but he kept checking in some desperate hope that he'd overlooked it.

Deshyr pawed through his pack, sifting through folded up maps and missives and bottles of elfroot potion. When he didn't see what he was looking for, he began to search more frantically and ended up slicing his right hand on the pocket knife he'd packed to help slice herbs off trees and bushes.

" _Fuck_ ," he hissed under his breath.

Deshyr clenched and unclenched his hand to see how bad the wound was. The movement stung and he could feel wet, hot blood pooling in his palm. He quietly cursed to himself, digging around in his pack once more, this time for something to disinfect his hand with and a cloth wrap to wrap around his hand. 

After a few minutes of shuffling through his bag he found his cloth wraps but was unable to find anything to clean his hand with. He sighed exasperatedly and began clumsily wrapping his right hand, both hands shaking from the pain and anxious energy shooting through his veins. 

Once he'd messed up wrapping his hand for the fifth time in a row, he threw the cloth wrap down in frustration, burying his face in his left hand.

_He warned you. You knew this would be a hard path to walk. Endure. Endure as Andraste would have._

Deshyr was startled out of his thoughts by Iron Bull, who had wrapped his arms tightly around him, pulling him to his chest. He felt the warm of Iron Bull's skin against his bare back and the strength of his arms and the familiarity and gentleness behind it put him at ease.

"Rough night, kadan?" Iron Bull asked, his voice surprisingly steady for someone who had just woken up.

"I didn't wake you up, did I?"

Iron Bull chuckled at that. "No. I've been awake for a while now."

Deshyr looked up at Bull, a tired but amused smile on his face. "Have you now? You been spying on me?"

Iron Bull smiled back and kissed the top of Deshyr's head. "You could say that."

"Well, what observations have you made?" Deshyr asked playfully, hoping that listening to Bull talk would get his mind off his discomfort.

Iron Bull pursed his lips and let out a "hmm", acting as if he had to think very hard about it when they both knew that analyzing people and picking them apart was basically second nature to Bull at this point.

"You've been antsy for hours though it's progressively gotten worse as the night's worn on. Your brow's all scrunched up, which it only does when you're angry or in pain, and your hands are shaking, which I assume is from anxiety. Or the pain. Or both."

"Both," Deshyr grunted as the bees battering in his brain reached a fever pitch. "Definitely both."

Iron Bull nodded, wrapping his arms tighter around his lover. "Noted. You've been checking your bag constantly to find something. Since I know you currently have four elfroot potions, a pocket knife, a map, some letters, bandages, clothes, and a small sack of those candied nuts I like--"

"That was supposed to be a surprise!"

Iron Bull looked down at Deshyr, one eyebrow raised. "I hate to break it to you, kadan, but subtly isn't exactly your thing."

Deshyr huffed though he knew it was true. He charged head first into everything he did with reckless abandon, a habit that Cassandra had informed would get him killed sooner or later.

"As I was saying...since I know what's in your pack, I also know what isn't. I wasn't certain but now--"

"Bull--"

"Cassandra is going to kill you. You know that, right?"

Deshyr sighed. " _Yes._ Why do think I haven't brought it up?"

"You know that going without a dose of lyrium all of the sudden is _bad for you_. Cullen's told you a thousand times--"

" _I know!_ " Deshyr yelled loudly, not caring if everyone in the camp could hear him. His voice cracked in frustration and pain. "I know..."

Iron Bull fell silent, giving him and Deshyr a moment to calm down. He felt Deshyr eventually relax completely into his arms and he let his kadan turn to cuddle against him without saying a word. He removed one arm, keeping Deshyr firmly wrapped in the other, and leaned forward to grab the cloth that Deshyr had thrown earlier.

He took Deshyr's right hand gently and turned it so the palm was facing upward. Deshyr looked up tiredly, a question in his eyes.

"We've still gotta treat this wound. It's not big but you got it from your knife, which I know you haven't cleaned yet. This could get infected if we don't deal with it right now."

Deshyr nodded quietly.

Iron Bull reached back behind him to dig something out of _his_  pack and brandished a bottle of Antivan alcohol. 

Deshyr's brow knit in confusion. "Why do you have--?"

"It was supposed to be a gift for you. I was gonna give it to you after we finished flushing Venatori out of this area. To celebrate, y'know? I know this kind is your favorite."

"Yeah. My mother always served it on my birthday. Said it reminded her of--"

"Home."

"Exactly." Deshyr paused and gave Iron Bull a half-hearted smile. "Too bad we're gonna have to waste it on my dumb hand."

Iron Bull shook his head. "I won't pour all of it. Just enough to clean the wound." He fell silent, looking over at Deshyr with a concerned expression. "This is gonna hurt."

"Really? I never would have imagined pouring alcohol on a cut would make it feel _bad_."

Iron Bull looked at him with a dead pan expression. "Could not be a smart ass for five seconds, kadan?"

"Alright. Five...four...three..."

"For fuck's sake, Desh," Iron Bull said with a mixture of exasperation and amusement. "Work with me here."

Deshyr laughed weakly. "Alright. Alright. Have at it."

Iron Bull nodded then uncorked the bottle with his teeth, spitting the cork out onto his bed roll. He tipped the Antivan alcohol forward slightly so that a small stream of the liquid would drip onto Deshyr's hand. He could feel Deshyr tense up against him and Iron Bull heard his lover hiss under his breath. Iron Bull was impressed. Most people at the very least let out a yelp but Deshyr had taken it in stride.

"Proud of you," Iron Bull said softly as he wrapped Deshyr's hand with the cloth bandage.

Deshyr only had the energy to nod.

Iron Bull hugged Deshyr close, holding his kadan's injured hand as if it were a fragile piece of glass that would shatter if he so much as breathed wrong.

"Desh."

"Hmm?"

"I apologize for snapping at you. You aren't doing well and me yelling at you isn't going to fix anything. But you've got to understand something. You're my kadan. _My heart._  When you bleed, I bleed. When you're sad, I'm sad. Seeing you go through this isn't easy. It hurts, especially because there's not really anything I can do except be there for you."

"Which is enough, _mi corazón._ "

Iron Bull smiled sadly at him. "Sure doesn't feel like it." He lightly squeezed the fingers of Deshyr's right hand. "Don't hide this next time, ok? Promise me."

"I will," Deshyr said, pulling his hand away from Bull's so he could lay it against his lover's heart. "I promise."

Iron Bull nodded. Deshyr was a man of his word, so Bull felt that he could relax a little since Deshyr had promised him that he would talk about this from now on.

They sat silently in their tent for a moment, with Deshyr pressed up against Bull's chest while Bull rocked rhythmically back and forth.

After a few minutes, Iron Bull broke the silence. "You know I have to tell Cassandra, right?"

Deshyr nodded, too tired to protest anymore.

"Alright. Let's go."

Iron Bull stood up, cradling Deshyr in his arms as he walked out of their shared tent towards Cassandra and Vivienne's. Bull held the hand Deshyr had put over his heart, grasping it like a lifeline.

"Seeker," he called, hopefully loud enough that she could hear him but quiet enough to not disturb Vivienne from her sleep. He didn't feel like having to fend off a grumpy Enchanter with his kadan clutched in his arms.

He could hear the shuffling of blankets within the tent and was eventually greeted by the sight of a very tired and very disheveled Cassandra. 

"Bull, what in the name of sweet Andraste has possessed you to wake me at this hour? The moon's still out," she grumbled as she rubbed one eye with a knuckle. 

"He's out, Cass."

Cassandra scowled, perplexed. "Out? What do you mean he's out--" It took a minute for the realization to dawn on her. When it did, her scowl became even more pronounced though now it was tinged with worry. "I'm going to wring his neck when he wakes up. I have told him-- _Cullen has told him_ \--" Cassandra cut herself off and took a deep breath. "It's not important. What _is_ important is that we treat him now." She pulled the tent flap open and waved them in. "Wake him up. Once we get some lyrium in him, he can go back to sleep. But you two are staying in this tent the rest of the night. I want to make sure he's alright."

"No problem." Iron Bull looked down at Deshyr, a gentle and adoring look in his eye. "Here that, kadan? You're gonna be alright."

Deshyr nodded and pressed his face against Bull's chest. "We'll be alright."

"Damn right, kadan. Damn right."

With that, Deshyr fell back asleep in Bull's arms and Bull whispered words of encouragement into his ear as he brought him into Cassandra and Vivenne's tent.


End file.
